Nagpur: A cafe operating beyond the permitted hours and allegedly serving tobacco-based hookah to customers was raided by a joint team of Unit 2 NDPS Squad and Unit 3 of the Nagpur Crime Branch in the early hours of Tuesday.

The action was carried out at Second Floor Cafe, Gautamare Complex near Laxmi Bhavan Chowk, under Sitabuldi police station between 12.30 am and 2 am on September 15.

According to police, the owner and operator of the parlour, Sunny Vikas Borkar (26), a resident of Ambedkar Nagar, Dharampeth, allegedly locked the premises from outside after noticing the police team, apparently to obstruct the raid. The police subsequently broke open the lock in the presence of two panch witnesses and entered the premises.

During the raid, Borkar was allegedly found serving hookah pots to 23 customers using tobacco-based flavours prohibited under law. Police also alleged that the parlour was being operated without the required permission and beyond the government-prescribed operating hours.

Police booked Borkar along with Sarthak Babarao Pakhale (18) of Amravati and Harsh Naresh Durve (23) of Ambazari Tekdi, besides 23 customers and the premises owner.

The action was taken under various provisions of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, along with relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Maharashtra Police Act.

The police seized 19 hookah pots worth ₹47,500, 10 hookah pipes worth ₹5,000, 20 chillams worth ₹1,000, two packets of prohibited tobacco labelled “Afzal Authentic French Molasses” worth ₹200, and other equipment.

The seized items also included two LED televisions, four sofas, a refrigerator bearing the Coca-Cola logo, a CP Plus DVR, an iron sieve and tongs. The total value of the seized property was estimated at ₹2.02 lakh.

The accused and seized property were handed over to Sitabuldi Police Station for further action.